UAE Establishes World-Class Medical Center with Harvard's Help

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UAE Establishes World-Class Medical Center with Harvard's Help

Dubai Healthcare City scheduled to open in April
16 March 2005
By Chris Thornton
Washington File Special Correspondent

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates, in partnership with Harvard Medical International, is establishing a world-class medical center to offer training and care to people in a vast region extending from South Africa to Russia, and from Europe to India.The Dubai Healthcare City, a vast medical complex with plans to offer health care comparable to that of the finest hospitals and universities in the West, is the vision of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, crown prince of Dubai, one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates. The formal opening is scheduled for April. Like many UAE development projects, such as Dubai Media City, Internet City, and Knowledge Village, it is an effort to propel the country from its pre-oil, pre-industrial days in the mid-20th century and into the ranks of modern 21st-century countries. These projects are swiftly moving from fantastic vision to reality.

Dubai Healthcare City is one of many undertakings of Harvard Medical International of Boston, whose mission is to make quality health care available anywhere in the world it is lacking. Currently operating in 30 countries, Harvard Medical International is engaged in virtually every aspect of health care, from the formation of public policy and hospital design and management, to the improvement of curricula and teaching methods in medical education.

On 200 hectares of reclaimed desert east of the Dubai city center, a university medical complex will feature a hospital, research laboratories, and a postgraduate medical school to train physicians in their areas of specialization. Also included will be nutrition and diagnostic centers, and clinics for sports medicine, rehabilitation, transplants and diagnosis, as well as facilities for long-term care and health education. There currently is no medical library of international standards in the UAE, but the one planned for Dubai Healthcare City will also have a Knowledge Center equipped with the latest Internet technology and facilities for telemedicine.

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, will staff a clinic for cardiac patients. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder of the UAE and its ruler until his death in November 2004, had donated $25 million to the clinic. His bequest will be used to help patients unable to pay for treatment.

The planners of Dubai Healthcare City sought a partnership with Harvard Medical International because they felt it had the experience and standards of quality they sought.

"Harvard has the reputation for excellence that was necessary for this kind of project," said Noora Abbar, a public relations executive for Dubai Healthcare City. "And we believed its reputation would attract medical professionals from around the world of the quality we were seeking."

In December 2004, Dr. Robert L. Thurer, a specialist in cardiothoracic surgery and a graduate of Harvard Medical School, arrived in Dubai to head the center's Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research, which oversees the development of all research and educational activity.

It was the ambitious vision the project represented, as much as the considerable financial investment from the UAE to support it, that piqued Harvard's interest. Another factor was the "free zone" concept, which has propelled much of the growth of Dubai. According to this practice, businesses are allowed to operate in designated sections of the city free of the government regulations that often restrain innovation and development, as well as the customary requirement that they must show sponsorship of a UAE national.

For decades, regulations regarding the administration of health care in the UAE have been spotty, and in some cases nonexistent. By operating in a “free zone,” the Dubai Healthcare City is not bound by any external guidelines, for instance, for the accreditation and licensing of its staff.

"What was exciting was that this represented a brand new venture without the usual controls," said Dr. Thurer in an interview.

"But it has never been our intention to create a 'mini-Harvard,' to bring Harvard doctors here to 'do' medicine. Our aim is to create a 'Harvard-like' institution of world-class quality and work with local partners in the health care industry to respond to the needs of the region," he said.

As with any world-class venture, there are world-class challenges. The UAE workforce is a melange of nationalities -- medical personnel included. Consequently, doctors practicing in the emirates have been trained to different criterion, at times derived from different philosophies of medical education. For example, education at the Dubai Healthcare City will involve redefinition of the role of the health care provider. In many parts of the world, a nurse would not be bold enough, or even allowed, to engage in patient assessment. But the Dubai Healthcare City doctors, nurses and other staff will work more collaboratively, abandoning the hierarchal, top-down model characteristic of an outdated approach to medical care.

A primary aim of Dubai Healthcare City is to place special emphasis on the health care needs of Dubai and the Gulf region. "The mission of Harvard Medical International is to do good in the world," said Dr. Thurer. "By developing a medical arm in Dubai we will support research to benefit the people of Dubai."

Through the local media, health fairs and other means, the government continually alerts the population to the dangers of diabetes, which is rising due to a genetic predisposition, poor diet, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. But there are also unique concerns, thalassemia for one, a disorder of the red blood cells that often causes severe anemia, weakening of the bones, and disorders of the liver and spleen.

To maintain high standards, Dubai Healthcare City will provide continuing medical education for doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, as well as postgraduate programs for speciality training.

Part of the legacy of Sheikh Zayed is his belief that the expansion of education would lead the country out of the poverty of its past. In acting on this belief, Harvard Medical International also plans to establish the Dubai-Harvard Foundation for Medical Research.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)